Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a blower unit of an air conditioner for a vehicle, and more particularly, to a blower unit of an air conditioner for a vehicle which can selectively blow inside air or outside air by force to the inside of an air-conditioning case of the vehicle.
Background Art
An air conditioner for a vehicle is an apparatus for cooling or heating the interior of the vehicle by cooling or heating through the process of introducing outdoor air into the interior of the vehicle or circulating indoor air of the vehicle. Such an air conditioner for a vehicle includes: a blower unit for sending inside air or outside air to the inside of an air-conditioning case; an evaporator disposed inside the air-conditioning case in order to cool the inside of the air-conditioning case; and a heater core for heating the inside of the air-conditioning case, and selectively send the air cooled by the evaporator or heated by the heater core toward parts of the interior of the vehicle.
FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the inside of a conventional air conditioner for a vehicle. As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional air conditioner 1 for a vehicle includes a blower unit 10 and an air-conditioning unit 40. The blower unit 10 includes a blower case 19, an intake door 15 and a blower 16. The blower case 19 has inside and outside air inlets 11 and 12 formed at an upper side thereof, and the intake door 15 is mounted to selectively open and close the inside and outside air inlets 11 and 12. The blower 16 sends the inside air and the outside air introduced through the inside and outside air inlets 11 and 12 toward an air-conditioning case 49 by force.
The inside air inlet 11 and the outside air inlet 12 are respectively formed at both sides of the upper side of the blower unit 10, and the blower unit 10 includes an intake unit having the intake door 15 which selectively opens and closes the inside and outside air inlets 11 and 12 while rotating the inside air inlet 11 and the outside air inlet 12. The blower unit 10 includes: a blower motor 17 which is mounted inside the blower case 19 to blow axial air introduced from the inside air inlet 11 or the outside air inlet 12 in a radial direction; and a blower wheel which is joined to a rotary shaft of the blower motor 17. Moreover, the blower unit 10 further includes an air filter 18 which is mounted at the upstream side of the blower motor 17 in an air flow direction in order to purify the introduced air.
The air-conditioning unit 40 includes an air-conditioning case 49, an evaporator 41 and a heater core 42. The air-conditioning case 49 has an air inflow port 43 which is formed at an entrance to induce the air blown from the blower unit 10 and a plurality of air outflow ports 44 which are formed at an exit to be opened and closed by mode doors 46. The evaporator 41 and the heater core 42 are mounted to be spaced apart from each other at a predetermined interval in order. A temperature-adjusting door 45 is mounted between the evaporator 41 and the heater core 42 to control temperature by adjusting an amount of mixture that cold air passing the evaporator 41 and warm air passing the heater core 42 are mixed together.
Through the above structure, inside air or outside air of the vehicle is selectively introduced by the blower wheel according to opening and closing of the intake door 15. The introduced air is cooled or heated when it selectively passes the evaporator 41 along the air-conditioning case 49 or the heater core 42 by operation of the temperature-adjusting door 45. After that, the cooled or heated air is branched to branch ducts according to opening and closing of a plurality of the mode doors 46 by an air-conditioning mode so as to be discharged to each part of the interior of the vehicle, so that the interior of the vehicle is cooled, heated or ventilated.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a conventional air filter. Referring to FIG. 2, the conventional air filter 18 includes a frame 181 made with a rigid material, such as plastic, and a filtering material 182. The air filter 18 is in a form of a rectangular plate with a predetermined thickness, and the filtering material 182 is folded to have a plurality of creases. Such an air filter 18 is produced and used to correspond to a vehicle package, and the exchange cycle of the air filter is generally six months to one year.
However, the conventional air filter is used for common use regardless of kinds and sizes of vehicles. Thus, as shown in FIG. 3, it is difficult to freely change the design of the intake unit of the blower case 19 of the vehicle because it is restricted by the form of the air filter 18.
Furthermore, a circular blower inlet 191 is formed in the blower case 19 above the blower 16, and the air passing the air filter 18 passes through the blower inlet 191 and moves forward the blower 16. In this instance, the air filter 18 is located above the blower inlet 191 and is mounted on the blower case 19 with the center of the blower inlet 19 as the center of gravity. As described above, because the air filter 18 is in the form of the rectangular plate, the air filter 18 has a limitation in the area which is covered by the air filter 18, and hence, has a limitation in increasing dust collection efficiency.